It was a remake, but an excellent one nonetheless. I believe the problem was that it premiered on Starz in the States. If it had premiered on any other network or cable channel (except The CW), they would have definitely gotten in, especially Sir McKellen who received a BAFTA nomination for the role. The fact Cuba Gooding, Jr. made the cut is a disgrace, especially with people like Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen in the running.

There’s was also an insanely competitive category, with 12 Oscar nominees on the ballot, and even HBO could only muster Cranston and not heavily praised Golden Globe award winning Star Wars and X-Men costar Oscar Isaac too. FX emphasizing American Crime Story over American Horror Story and Fargo really appeared to pay off and past campaign success by AMC, BBC America, and PBS appear to have gotten each’s priority project’s lead in. Starz, in addition to having 2 leads in one project, has never figured out how to resonate with Emmy voters. They have at the Globes, though, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or both of them still make the Globe shortlist, even after missing out on Emmy nods.